Which words rhyme with “Vienna”? How
can we describe the sounds a baby hears in his mother´s womb? Shall I order the
vanilla or the raspberry ice-cream? And is there the truth in wine? To find the
answers to all of these questions, you have to join the trip do Vienna
organised by the Department of Phonetics and Phonology as I and a bunch of
others, most of them my classmates, did on 4th and 5th of
May.
Our expedition started at 8.20 a.m.
with us meeting at the underground station Vyšehrad and getting on a small bus.
Our journey lasted for about four hours but we had no time to get bored. Our
task was to compose a poem consisting of the word “Vienna” or, for those not so
keen on poetry, to recollect some facts about our main destination. After that,
to fulfil the purpose of the excursion, we visited a museum called Haus der
Musik, testing our auditory organs, trying to understand a bit more about
phonetics and phonology, and searching for the right answers to the
quiz-questions as our task number two commanded.
A little bit confused (What for
heaven´s sake are ghost sounds? Do I
hear the same sounds in both of my ears? Who am I?!), we walked through the
centre of Vienna to get to a small shop with real Italian ice-cream (try the
raspberry one!). And finally – some of us still in the process of eating the
ice-cream – we travelled back to Moravia and settled in a tiny wine-cellar to
drink, eat, sing, and simply to have a great time. The second day´s lunch and the announcement
of the quiz-winners only pleasantly concluded our whole trip.
Do you want to enjoy the same kind of experience? Just
make sure you´ll sign up for the next year´s one!
